Artist's Smock

Cotton calico smock, labelled Ashenden Smocks, United Kingdom.

The accompanying Overview in the catalogue entry for Sun Visor [BC149], Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, New Zealand reads, "Alongside this sun visor, Te Papa also holds Flora Scales’ artist smock, paint box and easel (GH018017, CA000215). These objects are unusual everyday survivals, offering a fascinating glimpse into the daily work of being an artist. The high-necked smock is marked with paint and oil from brushes wiped across its cotton surface. The palette is coated in fields of dried paint, in colours familiar from Scales’ finished canvasses. The wooden box, bought from a top Paris art supplier, is full of half used tubes of oil paint (cadmium red, burnt sienna, viridian green) and fat brushes."